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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I could not wait for the month of July to be over. It just wasn't a good month for me. It reminded me of the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events which was released way back 2004. The movie was based on the first three books of a series from Lemony Snicket.

The first book "The Bad Beginning" tells about how the 3 children were orphaned because of a fire that killed their parents. Coincidentally, my series of unfortunate events started with a fire that broke out a block away from our apartment on a Monday morning. The good thing was that no one got hurt and the fire was immediately put off. But the smoke that reached our apartment triggered both my kids allergies and eventually lead to triggering their asthma, which I count as the second in a series of unfortunate events.

The fire that broke out during that Monday scared me a bit, and the previous week around 2-3 fires broke out in different areas in Cebu. So I told my helpers in the event that the same incident happens, and we are not in the house just grab a few clothes for themselves, the bag which has our important documents and our emergency kit which has a few clothes for the kids and some essentials and run for safety.

On a Wednesday afternoon, I went to the hospital to get Micah's urinalysis result and decided to go to the grocery. I heard sirens from a distance and my instinct told me to call home and check on the kids. My helper told me that they could see the fire from a distance, and the kids were starting to get scared because people from our apartment complex were starting to pack their things. I rushed home but was caught in traffic because I think they blocked some roads, and I started to get really worried for my kids. I decided to just run for the remaining two blocks and I saw people frantically carrying their belongings. When I reached our apartment, I was told that our next door neighbor took the kids and one of my helpers somewhere safe, and I felt really grateful. I could really see the blaze and the thick smoke, I was so scared and I was just praying for the fire to be controlled. Then it started raining, a drizzle at first then heavy rainfall, it was as if God poured down water from the heavens.

But the "unfortunate events" didn't stop just yet, both my kids ran a fever for two consecutive days, not to mention the already existing cough and colds. The following week, when my kids were better I was the one who got really sick, I had pneumonia. My helpers also caught the flu. I

Things were not really that good at work. It started with a member of the team handing me a resignation letter even before I could settle in my desk, and the next thing I know he went AWOL. My direct supervisor suddenly resigned, then 2 of my workmates and closest friends also decided to tender their resignation. How worse could it get?! I felt emotionally, physically and not to mention financially drained, It felt like a years worth of bad luck all dumped in a month.

Imagine how relieved I was when August came. I want to start on a clean slate and forget all the not so good things that happened last month. It took a while for me to share this, I never imagined myself being a victim of " a series of unfortunate events". Nevertheless, I still am grateful and blessed because things turned out well in the end. I know that there are others who have experienced far more worse things than I did.